Brook Field Farm

10/23/2026

Dear mud,

I have worked extremely hard on minimizing you, I have hired people to move you out of my paddock areas and allow you to exist happily away from my herd. Yet you choose war, you creep in and find the smallest dip in my grading and you conspire with rain to make yourself look appealing so my horses will roll in you.
I will continue to grade your opportunities to conspire with rain and be created. I will continue to eliminate your other ally, horse p**p, so you can’t join forces and confuse my forces.

You started this war, but be warned, I’m just refocusing my forces and I will eliminate you this weekend!

-sincerely, a horse owner who’s over mud goblin horses!

10/20/2026

When you go to the barn with the herds favourite, just be ready for your self esteem to take a hit…. 🤦‍♀️

10/20/2026

10/20/2026

With the wind and the leaves lately our herd has been spooking more in the ring than typical.
It’s important to remember that this is an evolutionary reaction that has kept them safe for millions of years. Secondly, your relationship with your horse, and your non-reaction should show them that the wind and leaves are not something that will hurt you, and through modelling this non-reaction, you can calm their reaction. But remember you’re going against millions of years of evolution, so even just reducing the reaction, or being able to re-focus your horse back on you even if it’s just for a minute, shows the deep relationship you’ve developed with your horse.

10/20/2026

New bell boots for the little princess! ❤️👑

With the rain last week, we want to stress the importance of cleaning your horses hooves and legs! We did baths (inside) for many who rolled, and everyone’s hooves and legs. Because Indigo wears shoes, she needs bell boots so she won’t pull off a shoe by accident. With the mud it’s especially important you pay attention to your horses with bell boots, wash them, change them out, and ensure mud isn’t getting under and growing bacteria- that’s how they can get mud rash, and other skin infections.

10/16/2026

🐴 **Building a Better Equine Community Starts With Us.** 🤍

The equine world can be an intimidating environment to enter. When you bring horses into the picture, you quickly realize just how passionate people can be. While that passion is one of the most beautiful things about our community, it can sometimes create an environment filled with judgement, unsolicited opinions, and pressure to do things a certain way.

We believe our passion for horses should bring us together, not tear us apart. ❤️

Here are a few values we try to live by to ensure we contribute to a positive, supportive environment around horses.

**1. There’s more than one way to build Rome. 🏛️**

Every horse is different, and every equestrian brings their own experiences, knowledge, and perspective to the table. What worked beautifully for one horse may not be the right approach for another. How I trained my horse may look completely different from how you train yours, and that’s okay!

As long as we’re prioritizing safety, kindness, and the physical and mental well-being of the horse, we can learn from different approaches without judging them. Rather than viewing different methods as something to criticize, we can see them as opportunities to add new skills and perspectives to our own toolbox.

We don’t all have to build Rome the same way to appreciate the work that goes into it.

**2. If it doesn’t feel right for you, it’s okay to say no. 🤍**

Being open to learning doesn’t mean you have to adopt every piece of advice you receive.

You can appreciate someone sharing their knowledge, thank them for their input, and still decide that their approach isn’t right for you or your horse. You’re allowed to trust your instincts, ask questions, and make informed decisions that align with your values.

Respectful disagreement is possible. We don’t need to convince everyone to see things our way, and we certainly don’t need to abandon our own beliefs just to fit in.

**3. Share your knowledge when it’s welcomed. Be willing to help when it’s needed. 🤝**

Sometimes, the most helpful thing we can do is give someone space.

Unsolicited opinions, criticism, and advice can unintentionally discourage riders from asking for help in the future. We can be so quick to jump in with a solution that we forget the person in front of us might simply be working through something, learning, or trying to figure it out on their own.

Not every challenge needs an audience. Not every mistake needs commentary. And not every rider needs someone else to take over.

Offer encouragement. Make yourself approachable. Let people know you’re there if they need you, and when they ask for help, share your knowledge with kindness and without judgement.

Sometimes, the best way to support another equestrian is to give them the space to become the horseperson they’re striving to be. 🐎

**At the end of the day, we won’t all see horses, training, or horse care exactly the same way.**

Different barns have different rules, standards, and expectations. What one person considers acceptable may not align with another person’s values. That’s why finding a barn and a community that share your core beliefs about horse care, safety, and horsemanship is so important.

You can respect someone else’s way of building Rome without needing to build yours the same way.

**The goal isn’t to surround yourself with people who agree with every decision you make. It’s to surround yourself with people who share your foundational values, respect your journey, and want to see both you and your horse succeed.**

There is room

10/15/2026

Why do I even try to bathe them 🤦‍♀️

10/15/2026

Feeling very very grateful that we set the barn up how we did!

My herd decided last week to take the opportunity of the rain and really enjoy it by becoming mud goblins! 🤦‍♀️

So yesterday I was able to bring in each horse, hose them off in my heated barn, with hot water, and allow them to dry off in a nice toasty barn.
Having the ability to bathe my herd in the cooler weather felt like a blessing, since the mud was REALLY IN THERE!
Now did SOME *cough Duke and scotty* choose to destroy my inner peace and IMMEDIATELY roll in the mud upon drying and going back out? Yes, yes they did… 🤦‍♀️ but, I tried lol and I was able to get some of the mud off them before going into blanket/winter weather.

10/06/2026

Cooper’s lameness exam.
Ok I’ve had a chance to digest the sad news from his exam.
Firstly let me say, Cooper is not in pain and will never leave our farm! Like all our herd members, they are family and loved deeply and no additional medical support will ever force us to part ways.

When Cooper arrived here, he was umm sadly looking. He was in pain, and it was untreated. He had unusual muscle development- with aggressive muscle deterioration in his hind end. His hooves had been neglected, and he was anxious, fearful and trusted no one.

So first thing I did was get our farrier out the night we got home! His hooves were so overgrown and he desperately needed a trim to start to relieve his pain. Our wonderful farrier popped up and trimmed him in the driveway (he wasn’t ready to go into a barn yet) and we made it as quick and easy as possible for him.

Next we ran a gambit of tests to rule out any medical conditions for his muscle development- all came back that it was not neurological. So we increased supplements- vitamin E with selenium, magnesium, of course Ominity, oil…
Next was rehabilitation of muscles through exercise.

Cooper was doing phenomenally well and no longer bunny hopping on his hind end. I was working on lengthening his stride at the Trott, he did great on the one side but the other was struggling still. With no explanation into why, I called in the vet to do a lameness exam.

Turns out Cooper had a very serious injury on his hind leg (around his cannon bone) and most of his tissue around this bone now is scar tissue. Knowing little of his history but knowing he arrived with significant muscle deterioration in his hind end, a conclusion that he was “left to heal on his own” was made. Due to the tremendous pain he was in for a long time, he moved his hind end minimally, causing the muscle deterioration as well as “crunchy” front knees from over compensation.
As of right now, Cooper is not sound enough to be ridden.
The plan moving forward for Cooper:
We’re continuing to work on muscle rebuild, this includes specific supplements, as well as lots of ground work at a walk. We’ll be consulting our farrier as he shows tenderness on harder surfaces, and may consider shoes or more sand fill throughout the areas of the farm with firmer footing (the driveway). He’ll be getting his dose of precicox still (pain killer) as well as polyglycan injections (Penny is on these and we’ve see great results in her joints from it).
Cooper is happy, he is fulfilled emotionally and is healing from his past trauma. No part of this horse should trust humans after we’ve failed him so miserably and left him to suffer. His anxiety, especially around barns, is understandable.

Cooper’s ability to forgive humans, and trust us is an HONOUR, and a privilege that is not taken lightly. The trust our herd gives us, the love they show, the compassion and understanding is a privilege and an honour I do not take lightly. Many of my herd have come from similar experiences, and if they choose to never trust or love humans again I would 100% understand. However, sweet Mr.Cooper has forgiven humans, but he has not forgotten. He still shows signs of anxiety in situations, and that’s ok. I continue to build from our trust we’ve built and allow him space to safely explore, and build new memories of safety, security, and being cared for.

So will Cooper continue to work with people? YES! He loves learning, thrives with new skills, and enjoys the connection and love shared between himself and humans. Will he become the ULTIMATE GROUND MASTER!? Absolutely!! With his intelligence there is no knowing what cool new skills we can learn as we continue to rehabilitate.

This is a reminder to all equestrians, it’s not how the horse can serve us, but how we can mend some of the broken hearts and promises that were made to our beloved creatures.